Fathers of The discovery of Chinese by European missionaries

Jane Kilpatrick

The University of Chicago Press Chicago and London

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First published in 2014 by Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AB, UK www.kew.org and The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637, USA

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Kilpatrick, Jane, author. Fathers of Botany : the discovery of Chinese plants by European missionaries / Jane Kilpatrick. pages cm Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-0-226-20670-7 (cloth : alkaline paper) 1. Botanists——Biography. 2. Botany—— History—19th century. 3. Plants—China. I. Title. QK26.K55 2014 580.92—dc23 2014013979

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You are reading copyrighted material published by University of Chicago Press. Unauthorized posting, copying, or distributing of this work except as permitted under U.S. copyright law is illegal and injures the author and publisher. DEDICATION

For Drew, Ginny and Sally

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chapter 3 Acknowledgements North of the Great Wall viii 24-31

chapter 4 Botanists and Explorers Land of the White Bear viii-ix 32-55

chapter 5 Gazeteer The Qinling x 56-63

chapter 6 Introduction A Botanical Eden 1-3 64-85

chapter 1 chapter 7 A Dangerous Vocation The Riches of 4-7 86-95

chapter 2 chapter 8 The Open Door Our Dear Project 8-23 96-119

You are reading copyrighted material published by University of Chicago Press. vi FATHERS OF BOTANY Unauthorized posting, copying, or distributing of this work except as permitted under U.S. copyright law is illegal and injures the author and publisher. chapter 9 chapter 15 Convalescence and Return The Flower Garden of the World 120-131 202-213

chapter 10 chapter 16 A Most Interesting Flora Rebellion 132-145 214-223

chapter 11 chapter 17 Interesting Specimens Final Years 146-163 224-231

chapter 12 North of the Qinling Sources and General Bibliography 164-175 232-233

chapter 13 The Tibetan Borders Notes and References 176-189 234-249

chapter 14 A Devoted and Indefatigable Collector Index 190-201 250-252

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am very grateful to Rowena Bartlett who came with by the missionary-botanists and Chris has let me use several Ime to Yunnan and to Edward He of Edward Adventures in of his photographs. Martyn Rix was very helpful and pro- Dali who looked after us so well on our journey to Dapingzi vided photographs of Baoxing. I am grateful to Tony Marden and Cigu. I must also thank Father Richard Leonard SJ who of Shady Plants who talked to me about his collection of Aris- discussed with me the theological beliefs that lay behind the aema; to Hugh McAllister who answered my Sorbus questions; nineteenth century missionary impetus and for his help with and to Marc Colombel who provided information about Adrien various passages. Roy Lancaster has provided unfailing encour- Franchet. Thank you to Mikinori Ogisu for his help and to his agement and support, and has let me use many of his own pho- colleagues Dr Liu Bo and Ye Jianfei in . Cédric Basset, tographs. Raymond Evison, Jeanette Fryer, Gail Harland, Harry Jans, I am most grateful to David Boufford who painstakingly Nick Macer, Seamus O’Brien, Keith Rushforth, Julian Sutton read through the manuscript and made many helpful sugges- and Toshio Yoshida have kindly provided photographs. tions. I am also grateful to Seamus O’Brien for his help with I must also thank the librarians without whose help the Chapter 11. Their comments have saved me from many errors. research for this book would have been so much harder: par- Paolo Cuccuini of the Botany Department, Museo di Storia ticularly Elizabeth Gilbert and Elizabeth Koper in the RHS Naturale in Florence kindly supplied information about the Ital- Lindley Library in London; Andrea Hart and Armando Men- ian missionary-botanists. David and Stella Rankin of Kevock dez in the Botany Library, and Lisa di Tommaso in the General Garden Plants patiently answered my questions and generously Library, at the Natural History , London; and Julia provided several photographs. Peter Cox of Glendoick Gardens Buckley in the Library, Art and Archives at Kew. identified several rhododendrons for me and showed me Rho- I am very grateful to Jennifer Harmer, and to Hilary Lenton, dodendron davidii in flower; and Ken Cox has kindly supplied for their help with photographs. Thank you also to Simonne photographs. Chris Reynolds and Daniel Luscombe of Bedge- Frissen; and a special thank you to Jane Crawley who gave me bury Arboretum showed me several conifer species discovered the title.

Botanists and Explorers

MISSIONARY-BOTANISTS Bodinier, Père Émile (1842-1901) collected Faber, Pastor Ernst (1839-1899) German Martin, Père Léon (1866-1919) botanized around Beijing and in Hong Kong before Protestant missionary who collected in with Père Bodinier in after collecting in the Guiyang area after his and was the first to collect 1897 return to Guizhou in 1897 plants on Emei Shan in 1887 Monbeig, Père Théodore (1875-1914) Cavalerie, Père Pierre (1869-1927) collected Farges, Père Paul Guillaume (1844-1912) collected at Cigu and Cizhong in the in southern Guizhou collected in the Daba Shan in north-east Tibetan borderlands – both now in David, Père Armand (1826-1900) collected Yunnan around Beijing and made three extended Incarville, Père Nicholas le Cheron d’, SJ Perny, Père Paul (1818-1907) the first journeys between 1866 and 1874 to Inner (1706-1757) Jesuit missionary at Beijing missionary to collect in Guizhou Mongolia, to Baoxing on the borders of 1741-57 and the first missionary to Scallan, Father Hugh (1851-1927) Irish western Sichuan, and to the Qinling and collect plants in China Franciscan who collected in northern eastern Genestier, Père Annet (1858-1937) Père Shaanxi Delavay, Père Jean Marie (1834-1895) Soulié’s travelling companion to the Silvestri, Padre Cipriano (1872-1955) Italian collected extensively in north-west Tibetan borderlands Franciscan who collected in north-west Yunnan, particularly in the Cang Shan Giraldi, Padre Giuseppe (1848-1901) Italian and Heishanmen ranges, and around Franciscan who collected in northern Soulié, Père Jean André (1858-1905) made Lijiang Shaanxi extensive collections around Kangding, Ducloux, Père François (1864-1945) collected Maire, Père Édouard Ernest (1848-1932) Tongolo, Yaregong (now in Sichuan) around Kunming, Yunnan after 1897 collected plants in north-east Yunnan and Cigu (now in Yunnan) then in the Esquirol, Père Joseph (1870-1934) collected after Père Delavay’s visit to Longki in Tibetan borderlands in Guizhou 1894

You are reading copyrighted material published by University of Chicago Press. viii FATHERS OF BOTANY Unauthorized posting, copying, or distributing of this work except as permitted under U.S. copyright law is illegal and injures the author and publisher. BOTANISTS AND PLANTSMEN Sprenger, Carl (1846-1917) German Handel-Mazzetti, Freiherr Heinrich (1882- plantsman with a large nursery in 1940) Austrian botanist who collected FRANCE Naples who received seed from the plants in western China 1914-1919 Bureau, Professeur Édouard (1830-1914), Italian missionaries Henry, Augustine (1857-1930) Irish plant- botanist and Director of the Herbarium collector who worked for the Customs at the Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle, AMERICA Service in China and made an extensive Fairchild, David (1869-1954) botanist and collection of the flora of Hubei for Kew Decaisne, Joseph (1807-1882) botanist and explorer responsible for foreign plant Kingdon-Ward, Frank (1884-1958) collected Director of the introductions for the US Department of in the Tibetan borders for Bees Nursery Franchet, Adrien René (1834-1900) botanist Agriculture in 1911-1913 at the Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle Gray, Asa (1810-1888) botanist and Kirilov, Porphyri V. (1801-1864) physician who classified the missionaries’ plant Professor of Natural History at Harvard and botanist at the Russian Legation in collections University who formulated modern Beijing Henry, Louis plant-breeder at Jardin des theories of plant distribution Maries, Charles (1851-1902) collected in Plantes, Paris Rehder, Alfred (1863-1949) German-born Hubei for Veitch’s nursery in 1877-1879 Lemoine, Victor (1823-1911) nurseryman at botanist who worked on Wilson’s Mesny, William (1842-1919) originally Nancy and gifted plant-breeder specimens at the Arnold Arboretum from Jersey and a Major-General in Milne-Edwards, Professeur Henri (1800- Sargent, Charles Sprague (1841-1917) the Chinese army who travelled with 1885) zoologist and Director of the Director of the Arnold Arboretum in William Gill and collected plants for Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris Boston who employed E.H. Wilson from Henry Hance Vilmorin, Maurice Lévèque de (1849- 1906 onwards Meyer, Frank (1875-1918) Dutch plantsman 1918) nurseryman with an Arboretum who made four expeditions between at Les Barres in the Loire valley who 1905-1918 for the US Department of received seeds from the missionaries and EXPLORERS AND PLANT Agriculture and the Arnold Arboretum introduced many of their discoveries COLLECTORS IN CHINA Orléans, Prince Henri d’ (1867-1901) French Berezhovsky, Mikhail M. (1848-1912) explorer and plant-collector who met RUSSIA Russian naturalist who accompanied Père Soulié at Kangding 1890 and Cigu Maximowicz, Carl (1827-1891) botanist and G.N. Potanin and also collected in 1895 Keeper of the Herbarium at the Imperial independently Pratt, Antwerp E. (1852-1924) British Botanic Gardens in St Petersburg, who Bretschneider, Dr Emil (1833-1901) physician naturalist who met in classified the collections Potanin made in and botanist at the Russian Legation in 1887 and Père Soulié in 1889 and 1890 China in 1884-1886 Beijing Przewalski, Nicolai (1839-1888) Russian Bunge, Alexander von (1803-1890) German- explorer who made three expeditions to BRITAIN Estonian botanist who investigated the northern China 1870-1885 Bulley, Arthur K. (1861-1942) wealthy alpine flora of the Beijing area Potanin, Grigory (1835-1920) Russian enthusiast who founded Bees Nursery in Cooper, Thomas (1839-1878) British explorer and plant-collector who Cheshire in 1903 and sponsored plant- merchant and consular official who travelled through Gansu and northern hunters including George Forrest travelled in the Tibetan borders in 1868 Sichuan in 1884-1886; and through Hemsley, William Botting (1843-1924), Davies, Major H.R. British cartographer Sichuan to Kangding, where he met Père botanist and Keeper of Herbarium at who travelled through Sichuan and Soulié in 1893 Kew and author of Index Florae Sinensis Yunnan in 1894-1900 and made the first Purdom, William (1880-1821) collected for Hooker, Sir Joseph Dalton (1817-1911) detailed map of the region Veitch and the Arnold Arboretum, and botanist and Director of Royal Farrer, Reginald (1880-1920) British plant- then travelled with Reginald Farrar Botanic Gardens at Kew who collected hunter in Gansu and northern Burma Rock, Joseph (1884-1962) Austrian-born rhododendrons in Sikkim in 1848-1851 Forbes, Francis member of the American American botanist and ethnographer Thistleton-Dyer, Sir William (1843-1928) firm of Russell & Co. who collected who lived near Lijiang from 1922-1949 succeeded Hooker as Director of Royal plants in China Rockhill, William Woodville (1854-1914) Botanic Gardens at Kew 1885-1905 Forrest, George (1873-1932) Scottish plant- American traveller who met Père Soulié Veitch, Sir Harry (1840-1924) nurseryman, hunter in Yunnan and the Tibetan in 1889 and 1892 and head of the firm of James Veitch borders who collected initially for Bees Wilson, Ernest Henry (1876-1930) British and Son of Chelsea and Coombe Wood Nursery and introduced many of the plant-hunter who collected plants for near London, who sponsored E.H. plants discovered by Père Delavay Veitch and then the Arnold Arboretum, Wilson’s first two expeditions Fortune, Robert (1812-1880) first principally in Hubei, Sichuan and the professional British plant-hunter in Tibetan borders, and introduced many ITALY China plants discovered by Père David and Père Biondi, Antonio (1848-1929) wealthy Gill, Captain William (1843-1882) British Farges botanist who worked with the Botanical traveller who visited the Tibetan borders Institute in Florence and inspired Padre in 1877 Giraldi and Padre Silvestri to collect Hance, Henry (1827-1886) British customs plants official in Guangzhou and expert botanist

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Note: ‘Q’ is pronounced – approximately – ‘ch’ hence Qinling = Chinling, etc.

CITIES, TOWNS AND VILLAGES

Pinyin Old Style Pinyin Old Style Badong Patung Kangding Tatsien-lu/Tachien-lu Baihanluo (Beixia luo) Balhang/Lou-tse-kiang Kunming Yunnan-fu Baotou Paotow Lijiang Likiang Baoxing Moupine/Moupin Malu, La-fou, Kwangtung Beijing Peking Mengzi Mongtse/Mengtse Binchunglu Champutong Menhuoying Mo-so-yn Caka’lho (Yanjing) Yerkalo Moxi Mosimien Chengde Jehol Pianjiao Pin kio Chengdu Chengtu Qutong Chu-tung Chongqing Chungking Shiyan Siang-yang Cigu Tsekou/Tsiku Tengchong Tengyueh Cizhong Tsedjerong/Tsed-rong Tianjin Tientsin Dali Tali Tumd Zuoqi Saratsi Dapingzi Tapintze Weixi Wei-his Deqin Atuntse/Atuntzu Xiao-Weixi Hsiao-weihsi Eryuan Lankong Xinjiang Sinkiang Gansu Kansu Xuanhua Suanhwa Gualapo Koua la po Yantai Chefoo Guangzhou Canton Yibin Sui fu Hankou, now part Hankow Yichang Ichang of Wuhan Zhongdian Chung-tien Heqing Hoking/Hoching Zunyi Tsen-y/Tsuni Hohhot Kweisui Hongshanding Hongchantin/Hung-shan-ting Tongking (now Tonkin Huanjiapin Houang kia pin north )

PROVINCES MOUNTAINS, RIVERS AND PASSES

Pinyin Old Style Pinyin Old Style Anhui Anhwei Dadu River Tung Ho Guangdong Kwangtung/Kuangtun Emei Shan Omei Shan Guangxi Kwangsi Heishanmen Heechanmen Guizhou Kweichou/Kueichou Huang He Hwang Ho/Yellow River Henan Honan Lake Qinghai Koko Nor Hubei Hupeh Lancang Jiang Upper Mekong River Jiangxi Kiangsi Luoping Shan Lopinchan Jiujiang Kiukiang Maogushan Mao Kou Shan Qinghai Tsinghai Nu Jiang Upper Salween River Shaanxi Shensi Qinling Tsinling Shandong Shantung Xi La Pass Sela Shanxi Shansi Sichuan Szechwan/Szechuan Zhejiang Chekiang

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It was most pleasing to find that many of the Catholic missionaries busied themselves

in collecting material for the advancement of science. In so doing they were certainly

not motivated by any desire to supplement their meagre stipends, but by genuine

enthusiasm for their subject, of which they often had considerable knowledge.

1 HEINRICH HANDEL-MAZZETTI

o many of our finest ornamental plants come from that they spent their limited free time exploring their districts, SChina that it would be difficult to find a park or garden collecting and drying thousands of plants which they sent back anywhere in the temperate world without at least one Chinese to European botanists for study. It was quickly apparent to these plant on display. The first plants to arrive in the West were botanists just how important the missionaries’ investigations those grown in Chinese gardens such as wisteria, magnolias were, and they marked their appreciation by naming several and roses. This only changed after Britain and France forced plants after their discoverers. Today, many of these plants are China to grant access to the Chinese interior at the end of the well-known to gardeners: Davidia involucrata, Buddleja davi- Opium Wars in 1860. Westerners were then able to investi- dii, Paeonia delavayi, Ilex pernyi, Ilex fargesii, Rosa soulieana, gate the plants of previously inaccessible areas of western and Rhododendron souliei, Callicarpa bodinieri var. giraldii, Rosa central China, and they quickly realised that this vast country hugonis, Acer fabri, Deutzia monbeigii… But who now remem- was home to one of the richest and most varied floras in the bers the men behind the names? world. When dried plant specimens began to reach and Perhaps the chief reason why the missionary-botanists com- America, they proved a revelation to botanists and horticultur- memorated in these names have been forgotten is that little is alists alike. Western plantsmen immediately wanted to grow known about the individual priests. The missionaries were self- the new discoveries and professional plant-hunters were swiftly effacing men who lived isolated lives deep in the Chinese coun- despatched to western and central China to collect living mate- tryside. They were devoted to the wellbeing of their scattered rial. When we discuss the discovery of Chinese plants today, we communities and uninterested in the botanical fame that was usually do so in connection with the plant-hunters and nursery- rightfully theirs. They did not write about their experiences, men who first introduced them to our gardens. or describe the plants they found and, as their discoveries were In many cases, however, professional plant-hunters were not reported in specialist botanical periodicals usually only read by the first Westerners to explore the richest botanical areas and experts, few outside a narrow circle of professional plantsmen discover eye-catching new plants. The botanical pioneers were heard of them. a number of Catholic missionary-priests sent to live in China’s This is in sharp contrast to the professional plant-hunters remote heartlands in the decades after 1860. Several of them who followed in the missionaries’ footsteps. Their discoveries were so fascinated by the diverse flora they saw around them and adventures were widely reported: they helped classify the

You are reading copyrighted material published by University of Chicago Press. Unauthorized posting, copying, or distributing of this work except as permitted INTRODUCTION 1 under U.S. copyright law is illegal and injures the author and publisher. ing the natural history of various unexplored areas of China. He made several natural history expeditions and kept detailed journals throughout. These were published at the end of each of his journeys, so that knowledge of his discoveries quickly became widespread. In this, he resembled the later professional plant-hunters much more than his fellow missionary-botanists. Some of these later plant-hunters – particularly E. H. Wil- son, George Forrest and Frank Kingdon-Ward – are frequently mentioned in this account as their activities so often overlapped with those of the missionary-botanists. This is hardly surpris- ing as they arrived in China hard on the missionary-botanists’ heels, explored many of the same areas and introduced to cul- tivation several noteworthy plants first discovered by the mis- sionaries. Essential biographical information and brief details about the plant-hunters’ various expeditions have been provided in order to clarify the narrative; readers who are interested in learning more are referred to the plant-hunters’ own writings, various biographies, and histories of plant-hunting in China. The missionary-botanists’ story is more than just an inter- ABOVE esting historical curiosity as their discoveries continue to be Rosa soulieana in midsummer. important in a number of different disciplines, particularly con- servation, medical and scientific research, and horticulture. Spe- plants they collected, gave lectures, and often wrote books and cific examples have been provided throughout the narrative but articles about their travels. The wealth of information about the some general points can be made here. adventures and discoveries of plant-hunters like E. H. Wilson and George Forrest has proved invaluable for biographers and Conservation historians and, over the years, these men and others like them Without the priests’ determined collecting in all weathers and have come to dominate accounts of plant discovery in China. in all seasons and the long hours they spent patiently prepar- Their achievements were certainly outstanding, but glossing ing their specimens, we would know far less about the extraor- over the missionary-botanists’ contribution distorts the true pic- dinarily rich and diverse native flora of western China and – ture. This narrative aims to redress the balance, as only when because habitat destruction proceeded as fast as it did – many the extent of the missionary-botanists’ achievements is recog- of the plants they found between 1869 and 1914 would now nised, can we properly appreciate the debt we owe them. have vanished without trace. It is thanks to these largely forgot- The account focuses particularly on the lives of four great ten priests that so much of the native flora was preserved, classi- French missionary-botanists – Père Armand David, Père Jean fied and described. The thousands of herbarium specimens they Marie Delavay, Père Paul Guillaume Farges and Père Jean collected provide an invaluable record of the native Chinese André Soulié – but also includes other French priests who col- flora that is used by botanists today as a benchmark against lected plants, particularly Père Paul Perny, Père Édouard Maire, which they can compare their own collections. Père François Ducloux, Père Émile Bodinier, Père Pierre Caval- So many of the plants collected by the missionary-botanists erie and Père Théodore Monbeig. Franciscan missionaries were proved to be new to science that contemporary theories of plant also involved – Italian Padre Guiseppe Giraldi and Padre Cipri- classification had to be considerably amended to accommodate ano Silvestri, and Irish Father Hugh Scallan – as was German the discoveries. The range of adaptations revealed was so exten- Pastor Ernst Faber, the only Protestant missionary to make sig- sive that botanists were able to pinpoint the origin of several nificant plant collections. important genera such as Rhododendron, Primula, Gentiana It is true that Père Armand David is still relatively well- and Pedicularis. Further detailed study of the missionaries’ col- known: but then Davidia involucrata, the dove or handkerchief lections led to a better appreciation of the evolutionary links tree, is especially celebrated, and he is also famous as the discov- between species and genera, and this led, in turn, to a greater erer of the giant panda and Père David’s deer. His remarkable understanding of global plant distribution patterns and to fur- talents as a naturalist were recognised by his contemporaries ther developments in the new science of plant . Dis- and his superiors permitted him to devote himself to investigat- tribution patterns based on the missionaries’ initial discoveries

You are reading copyrighted material published by University of Chicago Press. 2 FATHERS OF BOTANY Unauthorized posting, copying, or distributing of this work except as permitted under U.S. copyright law is illegal and injures the author and publisher. are still being refined today, as new locations are fitted into the existing scheme. The descriptions in botanical journals of the plants found by the missionary-botanists helped to inspire nurserymen and wealthy gardeners – who wanted to grow the new plants them- selves – to fund plant-collecting expeditions by professional plant-hunters, which led to the introduction of hundreds of new plants to Western parks and gardens, and to the discovery of even more hitherto unknown plants. Without the missionar- ies’ initial explorations, plant-hunters like George Forrest would not have arrived in China as soon as they did and many plants subsequently introduced to cultivation might already have dis- appeared from the wild. The nurserymen and private individu- als who received the new plants were quick to supply them to botanic gardens on both sides of the Atlantic, where curators further distributed the plants to colleagues around the world.

This rapid circulation of newly-introduced plants among scien- ABOVE tific establishments, where they could be cared for by highly- Corydalis flexuosa ‘Père David’ in midsummer in Marion Pollard’s Somerset skilled professionals, has contributed markedly to their preser- garden. vation: today many wild populations are under threat due to the degradation and destruction of their native habitat. Some plants discovered by the missionary-botanists are still being introduced to our gardens: Corydalis flexuosa discovered Research by Père David in 1869 and introduced to the West in the 1990s The importance of conservation is emphasised by the fact that has since proved a fine perennial in cultivation, as has Père some of the missionaries’ plant discoveries, which were not of Delavay’s Podophyllum delavayi and Epimedium species such particular significance at the time, have now become the focus as E. fargesii and E. leptorrhizum discovered by Père Farges of medical and scientific research into human and plant dis- and Père Bodinier and introduced in the past twenty years. eases. Trees like Nothaphoebe cavaleriei discovered by Père Cavalerie, Acer fabri found by Pastor Faber, Mahonia duclouxiana found Horticulture by Père Ducloux and Euonymus phellomanus discovered by Nurserymen found that many of the newly-discovered Chinese Padre Giraldi proved such fine ornamental plants when recently plants had considerable ornamental value and they ensured introduced to cultivation that horticulturalists can anticipate that, within a remarkably short time, they were commercially them becoming more widely available. available. Gardeners were so anxious to acquire the latest intro- ductions that nurserymen expended every effort to meet the demand and saw to it that the new plants, which had at first been expensive rarities, were soon generally obtainable. They are now so widely disseminated among Western parks and gar- dens that their survival is secure, even if they should disappear from the wild; and for those of us who cannot visit the areas explored by the missionary-botanists, growing the garden-wor- thy plants they discovered is the next best thing. Many of the missionaries’ discoveries proved excellent gar- den plants in their own right, but Western nurserymen were also quick to recognise their breeding potential and used them to develop new ornamental plants such as Deutzia x elegantis- sima ‘Rosealind’ and D. x hybrida ‘Magicien’, Asiatic Hybrid Lilies and North Lilies, and varieties of Astilbe x arendsii. Gar- deners today continue to benefit from plants bred from those first introduced over a century ago.

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